Give Me Love
by P. A. Foreman
Summary: During the ballroom scene in "Dangerous Liaisons", there was so much left unsaid. Love is all they want, but it is more complex than just taking it. Sometimes it has to be given. The lyrics of Ed Sheeran's "Give Me Love" is a foundation for the story. I will add more stories based on Ed Sheeran's songs and make a collection. :-) All readers and feedback welcome!


Give Me Love

A Vampire Diaries Fanfiction

By: Paige Foreman

**Stefan:**

_Give me love like her_

'_Cause lately I've been waking up alone _

_Paint splattered tear drops on my shirt_

_Told you I'd let them go._

That's why I'm doing this. Because I love her. I don't like lying to her and telling her to sit down and stay still when that's exactly what she _doesn't _want to do. It's to keep her safe…It'll always be about keeping Elena safe.

I look at the Original family's nice house, and then I look at Damon, who's talking with the mayor and Kol. Damon…I'm actually jealous of him. He controls his desires—his desires don't control him. He's the one who truly deserves Elena because he is okay being who he is. I'm not, and I feel so alone even with her love.

That's why I couldn't help it—letting go of what little control I had over my desire for blood and becoming the Ripper again. I self-deceived myself into thinking that I did it for Damon, but that's not true. I did it because the blood consumes me, and it feels like something more than love.

I feel a breeze from the doors opening, and I see her—Elena in a dark ballgown. She's beautiful from the inside out and I can't believe I chose the blood over her, but I did, I did. I walk over to Elena and I know I have to find the strength to overcome this dark addiction of mine for her, but she's simply not enough and I feel so alone. It's the kind of alone that Elena will never understand.

**Damon: **

_And that I'll fight my corner_

_Maybe tonight I'll call ya_

_After my blood turns into alcohol_

_No, I just want to hold her…_

I really wish I could rip the heads off all the damn Originals, but I am just not strong enough. Hopefully my mind is though, and in the end, it'll always be my mind that saves Elena. Oh, Elena…I hope to God she listened to me and stayed the hell away from this place, but I know it's wishful thinking.

God this is a boring conversation, but I participate anyway, making small talk with the mayor and Kol while I look around the fancy pants place. _Damn, _I think._ The Originals still know how to throw a party even though they've been dead for a few lifetimes. _

And then I see Elena walk in and the grandeur of the party dims in comparison to her. All the ballgowns and tuxedoes, all the king's horses and all the king's men, all the beautiful things and wonders in the world don't hold a candle to this perfect girl in the dark dress. She is the one I love and goddamn it, I am pissed at her right now for jeopardizing her safety. I walk away from the conversation to tell Elena off for being so damn selfless, but I guess I ogled at her for a bit too long because Stefan gets to her first.

He'll always get to her first. Always.

"What are you doing here?" Elena says to Stefan.

"I could ask you the same thing," Stefan replies.

"Surprise, surprise. Nice tux," I say to my brother and then turn to Elena. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Well, I am, and I'm not leaving until I find out what Esther wants. So, shall we?" she offers an arm to both of us. It's obvious that she won't budge and go back home. So I begrudgingly link my arm with hers. That girl…She's too much like me, and it'll be the death of her someday. I will figure out a way to get her home, but now I'm content linking arms with her even if my brother has the other arm. I just want to hold her, be close to her, and I just want to love her. Once upon a time I thought blood was all I needed in this world, but now I know that I need her—and I will fight for her.

Always.

**Klaus: **

_Give a little time to me, to burn this out_

_We'll play hide and seek to turn this around_

_All I want is the taste that your lips allow._

I'm wasting my time talking to this mortal woman, but I need to be a good host and make Mystic Falls love me. So I nod and smile and wait for Caroline.

Caroline…She's going to look magnificent in that blue dress I got her. She's going to look strong, beautiful, and she's going to look like a queen. She already is a queen, but the dress will just make her look the part. I know that when she walks in, if she walks in, she's still going to hate me. I killed a lot of people, turned her boyfriend into a hybrid, and so on and so forth, but I feel this strange thing when she looks at me with contempt—guilt. It's miserable and magical to feel such a thing, and I know that she will be the one to make me change for the better.

When I see her, I am jerked out of my reverie into the real world. Caroline's magnificence is even greater than I imagined. The white gold of her curled hair goes perfectly with the sapphire blue of the dress. She stands up straight, her head held high with confidence because she knows that she is better than I am. And I agree, but I'm not going to change right now. I just have to make her think I will change. I smirk and get up from the table to walk over to her.

"Good evening," I greet.

She gives me that same look of contempt and starts to speak. "I need a drink."

My queen walks away from me and I look at her longingly. I feel guilt again because I hurt her. The pain radiates off of her, but I push that feeling away and replace it with a smirk. We will play a game. When the game is over, she will be mine, and all I need is a little time. Underneath my façade though, I don't care about the plan. I want to run to her and kiss her and tell her that I will change.

But I can't change. Not right now, I can't.

**Damon: **

_My my, my my-y oh give me love,_

_My my, my my-y oh give me love,_

_My my, my my-y oh give me love,_

_My my, my my-y oh give me love,_

_My my, my my-y oh give me love_

Elena and Stefan are on either side of me when Elijah starts to talk, his whole family lined up on the staircase.

"If everyone could gather, please," he says. And so we do. "Welcome, thank you for joining us. You know, whenever our mother brings our family together like this, it is a tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance."

"Do you see who I see?" I ask my brother. Esther is overlooking the crowd, listening to her son speak.

"Oh yeah," Stefan replies.

"Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz," Elijah continues. "So if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom."

Everybody starts to flock to the ballroom, but Esther goes upstairs. Elena starts to follow, but I hold her back.

"Don't even think about it," I tell her.

"She wants to see me alone, Damon," she sighs, trying to get around me, but I stop her.

"Well, it sucks to be her then. Was I not clear this morning?"

"I was invited," she snaps.

"You have to tell me before you walk into a lion's den," I say, looking to make sure no one's listening in.

"Why? So you can stop me?"

"Yes!" I stare at her. Does she not get that I love her and want her to be alive and well? I try to think of a distraction and I offer my hand. "It would be rude not to dance, you know."

Elena hesitates before taking my hand, but she eventually does and says, "It is tradition."

So we link hands and head into the ballroom. My brother is behind us looking quite hurt so I smirk. It feels good to be the guy who gets to dance with the girl we both love. The waltz starts and I take in Elena once again.

"You look stunning, if it isn't obvious," I tell her.

A smile cracks that stubborn face of hers. "Thank you."

I have been given love, but I haven't been given a love like her before. I wish I could just reach out and take her, but she belongs to my brother, and I don't deserve her. I'd like to believe that we accept the love we think we deserve, but it's a little more complicated than that when you're a vampire. So I accept the little pieces of love I'm given and I twirl the dark princess before me and allow myself to love her for at least some time.

**Klaus**

_Give me love like never before,_

_'Cause lately I've been craving more. _

_And it's been a while but I still feel the same,_

_Maybe I should let you go._

She's dancing with me. Caroline. I love the feel of her hand in mine, and she dances like a royal. The blue dress swishes and twirls with her and my dead heart beat just a little faster than normal.

"I'm glad you came," I tell her.

She scowls. "Well, it was either caviar or sympathy casseroles."

Oh, right. Her father. I'm not exactly sympathetic, but I can try to be.

"I heard about your father," I say, trying to force emotion into the words.

She's not convinced though. "Don't. Seriously."

She's probably right. "Very well, off to more mannered subjects then, like how ravishing you look in that dress." She does look ravishing, but I go back to thinking about her father. I really am sorry, and I haven't really felt sorry for centuries. What an unusual feeling.

"I didn't really have time to shop," Caroline remarks.

"And the bracelet I gave you, what's your excuse for wearing that? You know, you're quite the dancer."

"Well, I've had training. I happen to be Miss Mystic Falls," she says, and I smirk. She doesn't have an excuse for wearing the bracelet.

"I know," I tell her. I do know she won the pageant, but I know other things as well. Like how she doesn't have an excuse for wearing the bracelet, and how I just moved my piece forward one step in our game. I want more though. I want to win the whole game right now. I want to take my queen and declare myself a champion, but I can't because she's calling the shots and I know I'm just a piece in _her _game.

I have patience though. I have centuries to wait for her to come around, and when she does, I will still feel the same way I do tonight. I will never, ever let her go.

**Stefan: **

_You know I'll fight my corner,_

_And that tonight I'll call ya,_

_After my blood, is drowning in alcohol,_

_No, I just wanna hold her._

I see Elena dancing with Damon and I decide that it's my turn to dance with her so I sneak up on them. Damon twirls Elena right into my arms and when he does, Elena and I exchange tentative looks.

"Hmm…" she starts. "He dances and I didn't even have to beg."

"Well, Mayor Lockwood invited me out here," I reply. "Couldn't exactly say no."

Elena smiles and I smile back at her. God, I miss her.

"It took you about thirty seconds to put Damon in a mood," I say.

"He's just looking out for me," she defends him. Now she's defending Damon? I really am losing her, I am…I need to hold onto her somehow though.

"Hmm…Well he needs to figure out that you can look out for yourself," I tell her.

She gives a shy smile and I know I've done it. I am holding onto her by a thread and hopefully it's enough for now.

She leans forward and whispers in my ear. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay, so talk."

"I—Not here."

Elena walks away from my arms and I want to grab her and take her into my arms again, but I just follow her. I'll always be following her instead of walking with her side by side. I am not her equal, just a lowly servant. Damon is her equal, and I hate myself for realizing that. A servant is what I'll always be—a servant to Elena, to my brother, to blood, to love.

**Damon: **

_Give a little time to me, to burn this out_

_We'll play hide and seek, to turn this around,_

_All I want is the taste that your lips allow,_

_My my, my my-y, oh give me love._

"Stop staring! It's creepy," I say to Rebekah. I can't believe I'm dancing with her. I want to chop my damn hands off.

"Of course she looks beautiful," she observes, referring to Caroline. "Nik gave her everything she's wearing."

Agh. I actually feel bad for her. "Well, you're no dog yourself."

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" she asks. Her eyes are so hopeful. I'm going to shatter that hope because she deserves it. Why did I even try to make her feel better?

"Hey, you tried to kill Elena last night," I tell her. "You don't get compliments."

"Caveman," she snaps, scowling at me. There we go, she's put back in her place. Something's wrong though, and I look around the dance floor and see that Elena's missing. Damn her!

"Where's Elena?"

I should have known she and Stefan would try to play hide and seek with me…Ready or not, here I come! Olly, olly Elena free…She pisses me off sometimes, but I guess that's part of the reason I'm crazy about her. I'll always be chasing after her, but I know I'll never have the elusive Elena in my hands because she belongs to Stefan. Maybe with a little time though, I'll be able to find her.

But now I have to literally find her...

**Stefan**

_Give a little time to me, to burn this out,_

_We'll play hide and seek, to turn this around._

_All I want is the taste that your lips allow…_

Elena and I walk outside, and once we're safely out of earshot, she starts to talk.

"If Esther's secretly on our side, we need to know, but I can't get to her with two bodyguards," she tells me.

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask.

"Because Damon won't let me anywhere near her without protection, and you care more about killing Klaus more than you care about killing anything, so…"

I look down at the ground, wounded by the partial truth. I want Klaus dead to save Elena. There is a thing I want more that that though…

"What, am I wrong?" she asks.

I look into those warm, brown eyes and I lie.

"No, you're not wrong." We exchange nods and I almost wince. "What do you need me to do?"

"Make sure I can get into that room with Esther. Alone."

I sigh. "You sure you can do this?"

"I can do this," she says, so sure of herself. She's always so sure of herself.

She walks away and our shoulders brush as she does. I stay behind, lost in thought and drowning in pools of sorrow.

She stops walking and I stop my train of thought to listen to her. "When we were together, you used to let me be able to make my own decisions. You trusted me. After all this, at least that hasn't changed."

I feel hope blossom in me. My thread has just thickened a bit, buying me more time. I glance back at her as if to say, "thank you" and she walks away once again.

**Elena: **

_My my, my my oh give me love…_

I'm hurting them both and I can't stand it. I have to be able to if I'm going to ensure a future for them and hopefully myself. I have to go to this meeting, and hopefully Damon and Stefan will still love me tomorrow.

I am a low human being.

I wait for Damon in the empty room. Stefan is lurking in here somewhere waiting for him too. God, we suck. I just look out the window, dreaming of two futures. One with Stefan, one with Damon. I still can't figure out which future is the one I want. I just want to love and be loved, but it's so hard. I only have one future, and I have many possibilities.

"I got your text," Damon says from behind me. "What are we doing in here?"

I wait for it, and sure enough, I hear Stefan jump out, and I hear Damon's spine crack. I almost feel my back break too with the weight of my pain. I turn around to face Stefan with a fearful face. I'm so scared, but I need to be brave for them.

"Well, better hurry up," Stefan tells me. "Won't be down for long."

I race out the door and up the stairs to meet Esther. As I do, I whisper a silent prayer to my future.

Please let them love me in the morning. Please let me have a long, happy future. Please don't let me hurt them like this again. Please give me love, and let it be the love I want.

Please…


End file.
